Bill Gates-Backed Firm Picks Philly For $450M Cancer Drug Plant
Another biomedical firm is building a manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania after the commonwealth doled out $10M worth of incentives.
TerraPower, a Washington-based nuclear technology firm founded by Bill Gates, is investing $450M to open a new factory at the Bellwether District in South Philadelphia.
The company is leasing a 250K SF build-to-suit space from developer HRP Group, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday.
Its TerraPower Isotopes division plans to manufacture cancer treatments utilizing the radioisotope actinium-225, with drug production projected to start in 2029, the company said in a press release. The isotope is being tested in human trials worldwide.
“This new facility is a testament to the demand for actinium-225 as part of the growing industry which is transforming how cancer is treated,” TerraPower Isotopes President Scott Claunch said in a statement.
The firm considered 350 potential U.S. sites across eight metro areas with assistance from JLL and Orchestra Life Sciences before settling on the Bellwether District, according to a release from the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.
TerraPower is receiving a $7M grant from the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites Program and another $3M from the Pennsylvania First initiative, which focuses on connecting businesses with workers and job retention. The facility is projected to create 225 full-time positions over the next three years.
“Pennsylvania is competing again and winning major deals,” Shapiro said in a statement.
“Companies are choosing to grow here because we’ve put a real strategy in place — the first comprehensive economic development plan in two decades — and we’re delivering results by cutting red tape, investing in key industries like life sciences, and strengthening our workforce,” he added.
The TerraPower announcement came after two of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical firms chose to build factories in Pennsylvania with support from similar state incentives.
Eli Lilly and Co. in January announced a $3.5B Lehigh Valley factory focused on weight-loss devices and injectable medicines, which was dubbed the largest life sciences investment in Pennsylvania history.
Less than a month later, Johnson & Johnson debuted plans for a $1B cell and gene therapy manufacturing facility in Montgomery County.
